Herman haupt



(No Model.)

H. HAUPT.

PNEUMATIG RAILWAY.

N0.'576,975. Patented Feb. 9, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN HAUPT, OF VASIIINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO THEGENERAL COMPRESSED AIR COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PN EU MATIG RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 576,975, dated February9, 1897'. Application filed May 23,` 1895. Serial No. 550,306. (Nomodel.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, HERMAN HAUPT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Vashington, in the Dis-trict of Columbia, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Railways; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit 1o appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to pneumatic streetrailways, and has for its objectto provide a construction whereby large storage capacity is renderedavailablefor moving a train of two or more cars without interfering withthe seating capacity of the train.

To this end my invention consists of the novel features hereinafterdescribed, and delined in the claim.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein, likeletters referring to like parts* Figure l is a side elevation of a train.equipped with my improvement, some parts 2 5 being broken away. Fig. 2is a plan view of the car-trucks of the frame in diagram-lines, with thepositions of the car-bodies shown in dotted lines and with some partsbroken away; and Fig. 3 is'a plan view of some of the parts carried onthe motor-car detached for showing the relation of the fluid-supplyconnections to the motor or engine cylinders, &c.

In Fig. l, a represents the track of a streetrailway, on which is movinga train composed of a motor-car o and a pair of trailers b 7)?. On thetruck of the motor-car 7; are mounted a pair of engines c, with suitableconnections c to the truck-wheels, a series of air-storage reservoirs f,and a hot-water reservoirg. The air-storage reservoirs f on themotor-car b are shown as arranged in a way most convenient for largestorage capacity on the motor-car and a desirable distribution of theweight therefrom, a part of the reservoirs f being under the end ofthetruck-frame and part of the same under the car-bodyseats, but allsupported from the truck-frame, while the engines c and the hot-waterreservoir g are located on the truck-frame betweenvthe truckaxles, withthe hot-water reservoir g at the charging-nozzle h, fitted with asuitable outw ardly-closing check-valve, for charging the reservoirs fwith air under pressure from a local charging-station at the end of therun or at other suitable locations. Supposing the 6o reservoirs f to becharged with air under pressure and the heater g to be filled with hotwater, the air will pass, when running the motor, from the main pipe7L2, through the branch pipe h4, to the red [icing-valve 77.5, andthence through the pipe 7i6 into the heater g to a perforated pipe (notshown) at the bottom thereof, and after rising through the hot Waterwill pass together with more or less steam through the pipe 7H to thethrottle-valve hs 7o and thence through the pipes l71,9 to thevalvechests of the engines c. The throttle-valve lever 7110 is providedwith operating connections hu, extending to a point within reach of anoperator 71.12, located on either end of the motor-car I). The pipe 7L@is provided with a backwardly-closing check-valve at n, with astop-valve at n', and with a branch n2, fitted with an outwardly-closingcheck-valve, at n3,

for fllin g the water-reservoir g with hot water 8o when the shut-offvalve n is closed. The function of the backwardly-closing checkvalve nisto keep the water from the heater g from backing up into the pipe 7Li onthe reducing-valve side of the check n and the parts connectedtherewith.

From the foregoing it is obvious that the air from the high-pressurereservoirs f is reduced to a working pressure at the reducing-valve h5before it enters the heater g through what, 9o for distinction, may becalled the workingpressure pipe 7L".

The details above given in respect to the arrangement of the parts onthe motor-truck are such as are employed in what is known .as the RobertHardie street-car motor; but

it will be understoodv that for the purposes of this case any otherarrangement might be employed wherein the high-pressure air-reservoirson the motor-car discharge through a roo reducing-valve into aworking-pressure pipe, such as h6, leading directly or indirectly to thethrottle-valve 'for the motor-cylinders.

A pipe p taps the working-pressure pipe h6 on the motor-car and extendsrearward the entire length of the train, and is provided with flexiblecouplings p', of any suitable kind, between the cars. Forconvenience thepipep may be called the train-pipe. The several trailer-cars b b2 of thetrain are provided with high-pressure air-storage reservoirs f', locatedthereon, as shown, under the seats of the cars, but which may bedisposed in any way most convenientfor economy of space. The saidstorage-reservoirs f on the several trailer-cars connect with thetrainpipe p through branch pipes p2. As shown, the several reservoirs fon each of the trailers are connected by pipes f 2, which connect withthe branch pipes p2, leading to the trainpipe p. In the branch pipes p2are located reducing-valves p3, which operate to reduce.

the pressure of the air, which is permitted to escape from the saidreservoirs f into the train-pipe p. The reducing-valve h5 on the motorand the several reducing-valves p3 on the trailers are of 'courseautomatic in their actions. With this arrangement it is obvious that thetrain-pipe p will be subject only to working pressure, and hence theflexible sections necessary for the couplings between the cars canreadily be made to stand the strain. lVithout such an arrangement it isimpossible to carry air at high pressure in local reservoirs on the carand conduct the same through flexible couplings between the cars. Forthe service intended, for example, storage-reservoirs on the severalcars are intended to receive an initial charge of about two thousandpounds per square inch. The hose necessary for flexible couplingsbetween the cars will not stand any such pressure; but by theabove-described combination the train-pipe is only subjected to the airat the desired working pressure of, say, one hundred and forty pounds.

The pipes f2, connecting the reservoirs f' on the several trailer-cars,are provided with sections f3, having charging-nozzles f4, fitted withoutwa-rdlyclosing check-valves, for charging the said reservoirs f fromthe local station in the same way as the reservoirs f on the motor-carare charged.

It is obvious that under the arrangement described, whereinair-reservoirs are carried not only on the 1notor-car but on the severaltrailer-cars of the train, which connect through branch pipes havingreducing-valves with a train-pipe leading to the Working service-pipe onthe motor, the motor draws its supply from all the air-reservoirs of thetrain. Hence sufficient storage capacity is readily available withoutinterfering with the seat capacity of the motor-car or any of the othercars .of the train. Hence, inasmuch as reservoirs are noT readilysecurable which will stand pressures exceeding three thousand fivehundred pounds to the square inch, it is perfectly practicable under myarrangement to obtain storage capacity sufficient for the longest runund'er the greatest load which is ever required on a street-railway. Myimprovement is therefore of great importance toward the success ofpneumatic streetrail- Ways.

It will be noted that quite a number of the details pertaining to theengines and their connections have not been shown. It was not necessaryto do so for the purpose of this case, as the said parts may be ofWell-known standard construction. For the same reason it was not deemednecessary to illustrate the details of the reducing-valves or of thecouplings for the flexible sections of the trainpipe.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is as follows:

The combination with a train of cars, of a compressed-air motor on oneof said cars, applied to propel the train, a train-pipe with flexiblecouplings between ears, for supplying said motor, branch pipesconnecting the local reservoirs on the several cars withsaid trainpipe,and automatic reducing-valves in said branch pipes, substantially as andfor the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

HERMAN HAUPT.

Vitn esses:

JOHN E. MITCHELL, CHAs. C. HELMICK.

